It could be only one of her eggs hatched, or she lost some babies. The geese didn’t seem to be missing any of their young from what we’ve seen so far, so maybe it was a late hatcher that the adult geese didn’t notice.

We had casualties on the marina to herons, crows, seagulls, and a 30lb pike. The duckling numbers diminished to such an extent it was lucky if one survived per clutch. The predators even took the swan cygnets when they first hatched and again it was lucky if two or three survived from a clutch of 7 or 8. On the river, it was totally different and they stood a better chance of survival, but in the marina basin where we were, they were literally ‘sitting ducks’. All part of Nature though.

Choppy mostly leaves them alone – I think the temptation sometimes overwhelms her, though. It keeps the ducks on their toes, never knowing if this is one of the times the dog on the porch leaves to come after them.

Choppy is going to get an unpleasant surprise if she chases a goose – she hasn’t done it since she was a puppy (she learned her lesson, maybe). She’s probably happier chasing things at your house, where she has a (very slim) chance of catching something.

Ducks and geese swim and lounge side by side in our area, even as doggies are walked by. Since it’s a daily ritual, everyone seems to know their roles by now and separation is maintained between all four-legged friends and their waterfowl counterparts. However the occasional squirrel does get the dogs riled up…especially when said squirrels panic and run at the dogs…as opposed to running away from them. Silly squirrels.